To the editor:

As a new resident and coach to the U.P., I had never even heard of a “can drive” until a few months ago and had no idea what to expect when the Hancock-Lake Linden/Jeffers JV hockey team hosted one on Saturday, January 31.

In a year that has been filled with challenges, uncertainty, and controversy, the can drive did what, in my opinion, is one of the best parts of sports: it brought people together.

We were overwhelmed with the amount of cans that were dropped off from people all over the Keweenaw. People from Calumet and Houghton, our biggest rivals, not only dropped off cans, but many made additional donations to support the team. Pepsi, Coke, Pisani, Pat’s Foods, Walmart, and EconoFoods were especially helpful as we sorted and returned cans. Other people offered suggestions on how to be more efficient in our sorting. It took our team about 16 hours, but we sorted nearly 60,000 cans, raising $6,000. JV hockey is entirely self-funded with every game, ref, and hour of practice paid for by the team. Every can was truly appreciated.

Thank you to everyone in the Copper Country who helped us have such a successful fundraiser!